ITC sees injury potential from hot-rolled imports

By Staff -- Purchasing, 2/8/2001

The International Trade Commission has decided to pursue complaints by domestic producers against hot-rolled steel imports from 11 countries. The domestic mills want punitive duties imposed on allegedly dumped imports from Argentina, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Ukraine. The mills also want countervailing duties imposed for allegedly illegal subsidization of imports from Argentina, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Thailand.

Alan Wolff, a trade attorney with the Washington law firm of Dewey Ballantine, which is representing three of the steel companies, says the industry is counting on President George W. Bush to keep a campaign promise to protect U.S. companies against unfair foreign trade practices. However, the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition (CITAC) says that "the domestic steel-producing industry too often blames imports for its problems; in fact, the industry can only meet 75% of domestic demand for mill products." CITAC is a Cleveland-based coalition of metalworking companies that buy domestic and foreign steel.

According to Commerce statistics, imports from the 11 countries were less than 600,000 tons in 1997 but grew to three million tons in 1999, before surging again to 3.6 million tons in the first three quarters of 2000. Mini-mill and integrated steel executives say imports of hot-rolled sheet from the 11 countries over the past two years have caused prices to fall, resulting in operation cutbacks and domestic layoffs.

Petitioners include Nucor Corp., Charlotte, N.C.; Steel Dynamics Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind.; Gallatin Steel Co., Ghent, Ky.; Ipsco Steel Inc., Lisle, Ill.; Bethlehem Steel, Bethlehem, Pa.; LTV Steel Co., Cleveland, Ohio; National Steel Corp., Mishawaka, Ind.; Weirton Steel Corp., Weirton, W.Va.; and U.S. Steel Group, Pittsburgh, plus the Independent Steelworkers union and the United Steelworkers union.